Giant tech companies up in arms over Trump’s Immigration executive order

International Technology companies have responded to Donald Trump’s immigration executive order that bars people from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya entry into the United States for 90 days. The companies represented by their Chief Executive Officers have gone on social media to issue statements.

Mark Zuckerberg “My great grandparents came from Germany, Austria, and Poland. Priscilla’s parents were refugees from China and Vietnam. The United States is a nation of immigrants, and we should be proud of that.

Like many of you, I’m concerned about the impact of the recent executive orders signed by President Trump.

We need to keep this country safe, but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat. Expanding the focus of law enforcement beyond people who are real threats would make all Americans less safe by diverting resources, while millions of undocumented folks who don’t pose a threat will live in fear of deportation.

We are a nation of immigrants, and we all benefit when the best and brightest from around the world can live, work and contribute here. I hope we find the courage and compassion to bring people together and make this world a better place for everyone.”

Satya Nadella:“As an immigrant and as a CEO, I’ve both experienced and seen the positive impact that immigration has on our company, for the country, and for the world. We will continue to advocate on this important topic.

As a company, Microsoft believes in a strong and balanced high-skilled immigration system. We also believe in broader immigration opportunities, like the protections for talented and law-abiding young people under the Deferred Access for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program, often called “Dreamers”. We believe that immigration laws can and should protect the public without sacrificing people’s freedom of expression or religion. And we believe in the importance of protecting legitimate and law-abiding refugees whose very lives may be at stake in immigration proceedings.”

Nadella wrote the blog post to which he attached an internal memo set to Microsoft employees offering legal assistance on the ongoing immigration order. Said Microsoft CEO

Tim Cook“Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do. I’ve heard from many of you who are deeply concerned about the executive order issued yesterday restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. I share your concerns. It is not a policy we support

There are employees at Apple who are directly affected by yesterday’s immigration order. Our HR, Legal and Security teams are in contact with them, and Apple will do everything we can to support them. We’re providing resources on AppleWeb for anyone with questions or concerns about immigration policies. And we have reached out to the White House to explain the negative effect on our coworkers and our company.”said the Apple CEO

Travis Kalanick “Our People ops team has already reached out to the dozen or so employees who we know are affected,” Kalanick’s memo states, just after outlining the details of the new policy.

“This order has far broader implications as it also affects thousands of drivers who use Uber and come from the listed countries … We are working out a process to identify these drivers and compensate them pro bono during the next three months to help mitigate some of the financial stress and complications with supporting their families … We will have more details on this in the coming days” said Uber-CEO

Reed Hastings“Trump’s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all,” wrote Hastings. “Worse, these actions will make America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe.

A very sad week and more to come with the lives of over 600,000 Dreamers here in America under imminent threat. It is time to link arms together to protect American values of freedom and opportunity.” Said CEO Netflix

However, Jack Dorsey CEO twitter was hesitant to air his concerns on the Immigration order. Asked what he had to say to the @realDonaldTrump who loves twitter and has the platform as his first stop to air opinion

Jack Dorsey “Uh,” Dorsey grinned, conceding to answer the query after several failed attempts at dodging. “Complicated,” he replied

I feel very proud of the role of the service and what it stands for,” Dorsey continued circumspectly. “It’s had such a spotlight on it through his usage and through the election.”